scholarly journals Typological variation in the phonetic realization of lexical and phrasal stress: Southern British English vs. Tunisian Arabic

Loquens ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Bouchhioua
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Vowel Quality ◽  
British English ◽  
World Languages ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Spectral Balance ◽  
Typological Variation ◽  
Phonetic Realization ◽  
Tunisian Arabic

Results of phonetic experiments on the acoustic correlates of lexical stress (word-level prominence) and phrasal stress (phrase-level prominence = accent) as two separate concepts in two typologically different languages, Southern British English (SBE) and Tunisian Arabic (TA), are reported in this study. Because of the confusion in the literature between the terms stress and accent, their acoustic correlates were muddled, too. To avoid this confusion, the data in this study are elicited using an experimental paradigm which allows careful investigation of the correlates of each concept independently. The duration, spectral balance, and vowel quality cues are measured. Results show cross-linguistic similarities and differences between the two languages. Unlike most world languages, duration in TA is not a correlate of stress. It is rather a correlate of accent. In the absence of focus on the target words in TA, the only phonetic characteristics of lexical stress that come in the foreground are spectral balance and F1 lowering. However, when the word is focused, Tunisian speakers rely mainly on duration and spectral balance to signal accent. SBE signals stress through three acoustic correlates which are duration, spectral balance, and vowel quality. More similarity is found for accent detection between speakers of the two languages.

scholarly journals Acoustic correlates of lexical stress in Moroccan Arabic

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Anna Bruggeman ◽  
Nabila Louriz ◽  
Rana Almbark ◽  
Sam Hellmuth
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Stress System ◽  
Vowel Quality ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Syllable Weight ◽  
Centre Of Gravity ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
Moroccan Arabic ◽  
Target Words

Presently there is no consensus regarding the interpretation and analysis of the stress system of Moroccan Arabic. This paper tests whether the acoustic realisation of syllables support one widely adopted interpretation of lexical stress, according to which stress is either penultimate or final depending on syllable weight. The experiment reports on word-initial syllables that differ in presumed stress status. Target words were embedded in a carrier sentence within a scripted mock dialogue to ensure that the measurements reflect lexical stress rather than phrase-level prominence. Results from all four acoustic parameters tested (f0, duration, Centre of Gravity and vowel quality) showed that there were no differences as a function of presumed stress status, thus failing to support an interpretation according to which stressed syllables are acoustically differentiated. We consider the results in relation to previous claims and observations, and conclude that the absence of acoustic correlates of presumed stress is compatible with the view that Moroccan Arabic lacks lexical stress.

THE IMPACT OF RECASTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY STRESS IN A SYNCHRONOUS COMPUTER-MEDIATED ENVIRONMENT

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Özgür Parlak ◽  
Nicole Ziegler
Keyword(s):  
Information Exchange ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Primary Stress ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
Sentence Reading ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
The Impact

Although previous research has demonstrated the efficacy of recasts on second language (L2) morphology and lexis (e.g., Li, 2010; Mackey & Goo, 2007), few studies have examined their effect on learners’ phonological development (although see Saito, 2015; Saito & Lyster, 2012). The current study investigates the impact of recasts on the development of lexical stress, defined as the placement of emphasis on a particular syllable within a word by making it louder and longer, in oral synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) and face-to-face (FTF) interaction. Using a pretest-posttest design, intermediate learners of English were randomly assigned to one of four groups: FTF recast, SCMC recast, FTF control, or SCMC control. Pre- and posttests consisted of sentence-reading and information-exchange tasks, while the treatment was an interactive role-play task. Syllable duration, intensity, and pitch were used to analyze learners’ development of stress placement. The statistical analyses of the acoustic correlates did not yield significant differences. However, the observed patterns suggest that there is need for further investigation to understand the relationship between recasts and development of lexical stress.

scholarly journals L2 acquisition of high vowel deletion in Quebec French

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilherme Duarte Garcia ◽  
Heather Goad ◽  
Natália Brambatti Guzzo
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Phonological Word ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Quebec French ◽  
Vowel Deletion ◽  
The Right ◽  
Phonological Phrase

In languages with lexical stress, stress is computed in the phonological word (PWd) and realized in the foot. In some of these languages, feet are constructed iteratively, yielding multiple stressed syllables in a PWd. English has this profile. In French, by contrast, the only position of obligatory prominence is the right-edge of the phonological phrase (PPh), regardless of how many lexical words it contains (Dell 1984). This has led some to analyze French "stress" as intonational prominence and French, in contrast to most languages, as foot-less (Jun & Fougeron 2000). In earlier work, we argued that high vowel deletion (HVD) motivates iterative iambic footing in Quebec French (QF), although the typical signatures of word-level stress are absent. In this paper, we examine the L2 acquisition of HVD and the prosodic constraints that govern it. We show that L2ers can acquire subtle aspects of the phonology of a second language, even at intermediate levels of proficiency.

Acoustic correlates of stress in Turkish Kabardian

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Gordon ◽  
Ayla Applebaum
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Vowel Quality ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
Acoustic Study

This paper reports results of an acoustic study of stress in the Turkish dialect of the Northwest Caucasian language, Kabardian. Stressed syllables were found to have consistently higher fundamental frequency and characteristically greater duration and intensity than unstressed syllables. No evidence was found for secondary stresses. Schwa and, to a lesser extent, /ɐ/ were shown to undergo slight raising as their duration in unstressed syllables decreased. This gradient raising is likely due to coarticulatory overlap with adjacent consonants rather than a categorical shift in vowel quality. Considerations of articulatory effort rather than perceptual dispersion predict both the categorical alternation between stressed /aː/ and unstressed /ɐ/ in Kabardian and the non-categorical raising of schwa and /ɐ/ in unstressed syllables.

scholarly journals Phonetic Sources of Sound Change: The Influence of Thai on Nasality in Pwo Karen

MANUSYA ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-66
Author(s):  
Karnthida Kerdpol ◽  
Volker Dellwo ◽  
Mathias Jenny
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Vowel Quality ◽  
Nasal Vowels ◽  
Different Ages ◽  
High Vowels ◽  
Phonetic Realization

The phonetic realization of nasal vowels produced by Pwo speakers of different ages can vary. The present study investigated mid and low nasal vowels of Pwo speakers from Mae Hong Son province, Thailand. Due to the higher tendency of language contact with Thai, the younger group’s nasal vowels were expected to lose more nasality than the older group. The emergence of final nasal consonants was also expected in the younger group. The nasalization duration and consonant duration of both groups were analyzed. The results showed that, regardless of age, mid nasal vowels of some speakers had final nasal consonants, while low nasal vowels of all speakers did not. Furthermore, the older group had both longer nasalization duration and consonant duration than the younger group, suggesting their higher tendency to preserve nasality. The younger group had shorter nasalization duration and consonant duration, indicating the loss of nasality in vowels without compensatory final nasal consonants. The change might be due to the vowel quality. High vowels were fully denasalized with no compensatory final nasal consonants. Mid vowels were nasalized with the emergence of final nasal consonants. Low vowels remained nasalized without final nasal consonants. We could not confirm that the emergence of final nasal consonants was induced by Thai because it occurred in both groups. The existence of final nasal consonants in the younger group could not be used as evidence of an effect of contact.

Word-level prominence in Persian: An Experimental Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahid Sadeghi
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Previous Literature ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Syllable Duration ◽  
Phonetic Cues ◽  
Pitch Movement ◽  
Spectral Tilt

Previous literature on the phonetics of stress in Persian has reported that fundamental frequency is the only reliable acoustic correlate of stress, and that stressed and unstressed syllables are not differentiated from each other in the absence of accentuation. In this study, the effects of lexical stress on duration, overall intensity and spectral tilt were examined in Persian both in the accented and unaccented conditions. Results showed that syllable duration is consistently affected by stress in Persian in both the accented and unaccented conditions across all vowel types. Unlike duration, the results for overall intensity and spectral tilt were significant only in the accented condition, suggesting that measures of intensity are not a correlate of stress in Persian but they are mainly caused by the presence of a pitch movement. The findings are phonologically interpreted as suggesting that word-level prominence in Persian is typologically similar to ‘stress accent’ languages, in which multiple phonetic cues are used to signal the prominence contrast in the accented condition, and stressed and unstressed syllables are different from each other even when the word is not pitch-accented.

The role of vowel parameters in defining lexical and subsidiary stress in Ukrainian

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beata Łukaszewicz ◽  
Janina Mołczanow
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Stress System ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Secondary Stress ◽  
Primary Stress ◽  
The Third ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
Initial Syllable

Abstract Recent work suggests that Ukrainian represents a typologically rare bidirectional stress system with internal lapses, i.e. sequences of unstressed syllables in the vicinity of primary stress (Łukaszewicz and Mołczanow 2018a, b). The system is more intricate than the hitherto known bidirectional systems (e.g. Polish), and thus interesting from the theoretical perspective, as it involves interaction between free lexical stress and secondary stresses. Lexical and subsidiary prominence in Ukrainian have been shown to be expressed acoustically in terms of increased duration of the whole syllable. This leaves open the question of the role of classic vowel parameters in shaping prominence effects in this language. The present study fills this gap by investigating vowel duration, intensity, and F0 as potential acoustic correlates of primary and secondary stress in Ukrainian. It focuses on words with primary stress on the fifth syllable. Such words are predicted to have secondary stress on the first and third syllables. The results point to statistically significant lengthening of vowels carrying lexical stress as well as of those in the initial syllable, but not in the third syllable. A possible explanation is that other parameters, e.g. consonant duration, may be crucial in the case of word-internal subsidiary stress in Ukrainian.

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